Post by tackitt on Jan 9, 2013 13:51:36 GMT -5

I would say that it was a perfect storm, getting a first year head coach and freshman quarter back that fit perfectly with one another. Plus adding that quarter back to an unbelievabl starting O-line. They finished 7-6 the year before with a 4-5 mark in the Big 12, so yeah, I'd say that Manziel added quite a bit to make that team SEC worthy because they obviously were not the year before. Whereas Mizzou who was a game better than the aggies last year with an 8-5 mark and 5-4 in Big 12, stumbled to 5-7 and 2-6. So it's not like A&M didn't make significant changes to make their team ready. And understandable to the influence on kids, but also to be realistic the best HS players are from those states. They're influenced to go to the SEC just based on the fact that those schools hold the regional advantage. Now it's just that their dominance allows them to steal kids from the midwest, soutwest, and west coast at times, as well.

Post by Gildzilla on Jan 9, 2013 15:05:25 GMT -5

The media bias is towards markets that care the most. College football is to Alabama newspapers what Christmas is to the retail industry. Conversely, I recently read that 14 percent of New Yorkers even follow college football, let alone really care what happens. The media has to cater to where the eyes are, and that means markets where football is important/religion/worth poisoning trees over, regardless of whether the fans' staunch loyalty has been merited (SEC) or not (Notre Dame).

Post by tackitt on Jan 9, 2013 15:29:44 GMT -5

Excellent point. Even the west coast isn't as passionate about their football, considering there are a ton of distractions living on the coast. The Big Ten is gearing itself more towards basketball, which they should it's about the only thing they're in the upper crust of, and if anything college baseball is where the west shines more than other sports now. Even though the SEC rails them more often than not at that too.

Post by custeph on Jan 9, 2013 18:45:56 GMT -5

South Carolina's two major universities went 1 & 2 on the best bowls list. I guess the Gamecocks should thank Clowney once again for that big hit.

I'll take our #2 spot.

2. Chick-fil-A. Bowls are just glorified exhibitions that don't matter and don't change anything. Which is why for four visceral quarters Clemson and LSU went after each other tooth-and-nail in a fashion entirely befitting their shared feline nickname. Which is why Clemson and Dabo Swinney celebrated Chandler Catanzaro's game-winning field goal as time expired with a zeal usually reserved for "child gets an XBox" Christmas YouTube videos. Which is why Les Miles came in for another excoriating round of vitriol for his late-game coaching decisions. Which is why Tigers fans in both the Palmetto and Pelican States are going to be talking about this one for years to come.

Post by Scrog on Jan 10, 2013 2:09:25 GMT -5

South Carolina's two major universities went 1 & 2 on the best bowls list. I guess the Gamecocks should thank Clowney once again for that big hit.

Or thank the Big Easy Ref for blowing a 1st down call, that never should have been a first down! WTF were those guys thinking?This is what led to Clowney "taking it up a notch" before he rocked Smith's world.

The 2012-13 season also included two of ESPN’s top four most-viewed non-BCS bowl game telecasts ever with the Chick-fil-A Bowl and Outback Bowl. The Chick-fil-A Bowl New Year’s Eve telecast – a 25-24 Clemson victory over LSU – averaged 8,557,000 viewers (a 5.6 household coverage rating), making it the network’s most-viewed non-BCS bowl ever. The Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day – South Carolina beating Michigan 33-28 – is ESPN’s fourth most-viewed non-BCS bowl ever with an average of 7,583,000 viewers (a 4.9 household coverage rating).

Post by Scrog on Jan 11, 2013 2:12:59 GMT -5

^What is your point here? ???

Really?! ND #1 in a computer poll that determines who is ranked where, by evaluating wins vs losses and strength of schedule. The most crazy part about this, the list came out after Bama spanked ND. Can not wait for this BCS to be over!

Post by Dave Maynar on Jan 11, 2013 6:28:57 GMT -5

Oh wait, my bad. The reason why Clemson-LSU is the highest ranked non-BCS bowl in ESPN history is because the Cotton and Capital One bowls were on major networks and not cable. I am sure that is just a coincidence though and not an indicator that the interest level for them is higher.

Post by Flanz on Jan 11, 2013 7:54:39 GMT -5

Just want to check something. Does anyone here think any college team could ever beat any NFL team? I keep seeing the "Alabama would beat Jax/NYJ/Arizona/any team picking in the top 10 in April's draft" comments pop up and they are hilarious to me.

Post by Scrog on Jan 11, 2013 13:10:21 GMT -5

Just want to check something. Does anyone here think any college team could ever beat any NFL team? I keep seeing the "Alabama would beat Jax/NYJ/Arizona/any team picking in the top 10 in April's draft" comments pop up and they are hilarious to me.

1995 Nebraska CornHuskers would give the 2012 NYJ a run for their money, but that is about as close as you will get.

Tommy Frasier fakes the run, moves out the pocket, then a pass to his TE for the game winning TD. Tebow did not play this game either.

Post by Flanz on Jan 11, 2013 13:16:41 GMT -5

Just want to check something. Does anyone here think any college team could ever beat any NFL team? I keep seeing the "Alabama would beat Jax/NYJ/Arizona/any team picking in the top 10 in April's draft" comments pop up and they are hilarious to me.

1995 Nebraska CornHuskers would give the 2012 NYJ a run for their money, but that is about as close as you will get.

Tommy Frasier fakes the run, moves out the pocket, then a pass to his TE for the game winning TD. Tebow did not play this game either.

The best player from that team is either the kicker or Grant Wistrom. Laughable.

Post by Dave Maynar on Jan 11, 2013 13:24:34 GMT -5

College football teams contain the best players from a 5 year age span and spreads them across 120 teams (or 10,200 spots) .

Pro football teams contain the best players from a 15 year age span and spreads them across 32 teams (or 2880 spots).

Basically, you have theoretically three times as many players vying for less than a third of the number of roster spots. Logic would only dictate that your level of talent on even the worst team is going to be better than the best NFL team.

Post by Scrog on Jan 11, 2013 14:43:52 GMT -5

1995 Nebraska CornHuskers would give the 2012 NYJ a run for their money, but that is about as close as you will get.

Tommy Frasier fakes the run, moves out the pocket, then a pass to his TE for the game winning TD. Tebow did not play this game either.

The best player from that team is either the kicker or Grant Wistrom. Laughable.

The only reason Wistrom got player of the game is because he intercepted Sanchez twice, once when Mark shoveled passed it to him, nobody was sure what happened there, but the second one was a leap of athleticism when he snagged Sanchez's pass out of mid air, Mark tried to throw it over him, but he was off. Both returned for TDs and he recovered a Sanchez fumble.

Post by jackson on Jan 16, 2013 17:34:57 GMT -5

I've been thinking about this for the last hour and I wanna hear everyone's take on where this would fall on weirdest things in sports history. Would it make the top 10? I say it cracks the top 3 of college football.

Post by glennron on Jan 16, 2013 17:37:49 GMT -5

I've been thinking about this for the last hour and I wanna hear everyone's take on where this would fall on weirdest things in sports history. Would it make the top 10? I say it cracks the top 3 of college football.

What other two from college football would even challenge it? This is some George Costanza sh*t right here.

Post by Hakuna on Jan 16, 2013 18:00:21 GMT -5

I've been thinking about this for the last hour and I wanna hear everyone's take on where this would fall on weirdest things in sports history. Would it make the top 10? I say it cracks the top 3 of college football.

What other two from college football would even challenge it? This is some George Costanza sh*t right here.

He probably has a house with 2 solariums and horses named Snoopy and Prickly Pete.